Anger grows in Albania as protesters take to streets for sixth day over Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner plans for $1.6b island resort

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The €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion) resort is being led by Jared Kushner's investment firm Affinity Partners.

Environmentalists oppose the plan for the abandoned island of Sazan, which they say would impact several hundred hectares of pristine beaches.

The resort is planned for an undeveloped stretch of coastline near the Vjosa-Narta protected landscape, a wetland home to flamingos, seals and sea turtle nesting sites.

Locals rushed to the development area to check the situation on Friday, as police patrolled, where there was no sign of the builders or heavy machinery that had been preparing the ground in recent days at the site of the planned resort.

The development came hours after protesters gathered in Tirana outside the office of Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama, holding pink inflatable flamingos and chanting "revolution" and "stop the project".

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One placard read: "Edi Rama, resign."

"Albania is not for sale. Albania belongs to the Albanian people and we decide what we want to do here," said Lindita Komani, a writer who joined the protests.

"It's not that some corrupt politicians who run Albania can decide what they can do with our property, with the Albanian heritage, the natural heritage, a cultural heritage."

Albania's Economy and Innovation Minister Delina Ibrahimaj said on Thursday that environmental impact assessments are being drafted for the proposed investment which would have to comply fully with environmental legislation and safeguard the local habitat.

European environmental directives and Albanian law provide legal guarantees against projects that could harm the protected lagoon and surrounding habitats, she was quoted as saying by Albania's state news agency ATA.

Developers have said they will progress responsibly.

"Our focus remains on responsible stewardship, environmental enhancement, job creation, and creating long-term value for local communities," said Asher Abehsera, chairman of Sazan Real Estate Development LLC, which is developing the plans in partnership with Kushner's firm.

"We respect the ongoing public and institutional processes."

Affinity Partners and Kushner did not respond to requests for comment.

Protesters gathered outside the office of Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama on Tuesday evening, holding inflatable flamingoes and signs that read "Nation is not for sale" and "I don't want Albania like Dubai".

"We want all construction to halt and heavy machines out of the protected area," said Joni Vorpsi, an ecologist with PPNEA-BirdLife Albania organisation.

"This would be a new city with around 10,000 rooms and it will completely destroy that wild region."

Rama defended the project on Tuesday.

"It is very important that we remain welcoming, that we remain fair, and that under no circumstances do we receive the stigma of being a country where investors are met with hostility," he said in a statement shared with Reuters.

"There is absolutely no chance that the investment will stop as long as I am here."

Protests by locals and non-profit organisations started after large barbed wire fences were erected by developers at the proposed site in Zvernec, near Vlora.

Several hundred gathered and clashed with private guards on Saturday and some were injured, a Reuters witness said.

Kushner announced plans to build the resort in 2024 as part of a wider investment that also included a former army headquarters in the Serbian capital Belgrade.

Last year, he gave up the Serbia project following street protests against it.